Factors Affecting Korean Registered Nurses' Intention to Implement Smoking Cessation Intervention

OBJECTIVES Nurses have been identified as an instrumental partner in tobacco reduction. This study aimed to examine factors affecting Korean nurses' intention to implement smoking cessation intervention in Busan, Korea. METHODS The participants were a total of 215 Korean registered nurses. A self-administered questionnaire evaluated predisposing factors, motivational factors (attitude, social influence, and self-efficacy) and intention to implement smoking cessation intervention. Data were analyzed by t tests, Pearson's correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 28.12 ± 5.72 years. The majority of the participants were staff nurses (85.6%), and 64.2% of the sample had < 5 years of work experience. Significant predictors of intention to implement smoking cessation intervention included perceived barrier of smoking cessation intervention (β = -0.128, p = 0.023), willingness to receive smoking cessation training (β = 0.123, p = 0.034), more positive attitude (β = 0.203, p = 0.002), higher social influence (β = 0.292, p < 0.001), and higher self-efficacy toward smoking cessation intervention (β = 0.151, p = 0.021), which explained 45% of the total variance of intention to implement smoking cessation intervention. CONCLUSION Attitude, social influence, and self-efficacy towards smoking cessation intervention had a significant positive influence in determining the intention to implement smoking cessation intervention. These findings can be used to develop evidence-based smoking cessation training programs for nurses in Korea. The programs should aim for positive attitude, higher social influence, and higher self-efficacy in hospital settings.